Pieces of Paper

I see that Hamas and Fatah are once again ignoring yet another truce between the two sides. The ink isn't even dry on the latest truce as both sides take to blowing stuff up, kidnapping, and causing mayhem. Hamas torched Fatah headquarters to the ground.

I know.

Color me surprised on that one. No matter how many pieces of paper are stamped truce, the Palestinians are going to ignore them.

It's the same thing with the talks about forming a unity government. They don't want a unity government because no one wants to compromise, not even under taqiya. Hamas can't get around its desire to destroy Israel, and refuses to cede power to Fatah. Fatah doesn't want to cede power, and wont give in to Hamas demands. So they fight each other.

The Islamic University in Gaza was torched.

The so-called voice of reason (by Palestinian logic, not mine) Islamic Jihad wants everyone to focus on what's important - killing Jews (and infidels in general). They want the sides to stop fighting each other and resume killing Israelis.

Meanwhile, why would anyone think that with the Palestinians in a civil war with each other that talks between Palestinians and Israelis will go anywhere? The US State Department thinks talks are a good idea. They're still under the impression that Palestinians are in a position to talk, though they may think that giving Abbas a lifeline might (1) extend the conflict between Fatah and Hamas, or (2) give Abbas the leverage to push Hamas to the sidelines since he's the one bringing home nearly $100 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority and is advancing the diplomatic efforts.

The former strategy is probably wishful thinking since I doubt that the State Department thinks in that fashion. They're too wedded to thinking that the Palestinians are interested in peaceful coexistence with Israel. The latter reason is more likely, but is doomed to failure because the reason the Palestinians are in this mess in the first place is because they refuse to accept a two-state solution, and want to impose a Palestinian state on the entire region.

All the aid does is give the Palestinians the ability to extend the fighting and buy more weapons on the black market - weapons that may well end up being used against the Israelis.

UPDATE:
Others taking note of the ongoing fighting between Hamas and Fatah: Jammie Wearing Fool, Power and Control, Atlas Shrugs, Redstate,

UPDATE:
Glenn Reynolds notes that the media is fighting hard to avoid calling the fighting a civil war. Also commenting: Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom and Hot Air reviews a video game that he's yet to play - the subject is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

UPDATE:
Hey, did you know that there were upscale beaches in Gaza? Neither did I, but Instapundit focuses in on Palestinian actions that, if done by the Israelis, would be immediately classified as war crimes by the usual suspects. More here.